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2.76 AVERAGE
2.76 AVERAGE
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
WTF was this? I don’t think this author is for me.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Yet another great read from Eric LaRocca. I really enjoyed this book compared to others by this author because it was much more realistic and read much differently than I expected it to. While the topics were dark, it was hard to put this down.
Yikes. Despite a rather promising first few chapters establishing interesting characters and a mysterious premise, this unfortunately went downhill incredibly quickly. The writing is particularly terrible in this book, especially the excessive usage of metaphor and simile. Nearly anything and everything is written with a "this/ he/ she/ they were like...." followed by a lengthy and nonsensical description, which was beyond irritating.
Overall, the prose felt very forced and amateur, and I kept wondering how this writing made it past an editor, as I would have been surprised to see this novella make it past my undergrad creative writing professor. The plot makes no sense and has huge holes, nearly all the characters are under-developed and flat, and consistently make decisions and say things that also make no sense. There were various points in the story where I was just baffled at what was happening and why- too many to list here frankly.
I loved LaRocca's short story "Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke" and was excited to read this after all the hype I'd been hearing about it, but it was really one of the most poorly written stories I've read in quite some time. I would strongly recommend horror fans to not read this- I nearly didn't finish, but it was so short so I opted to power through it, only to be rewarded with more senselessness, bad writing, and disappointment.
Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for providing me an ARC of this title. I hope there are some serious edits made to this before it actually hits the shelves anywhere.
Overall, the prose felt very forced and amateur, and I kept wondering how this writing made it past an editor, as I would have been surprised to see this novella make it past my undergrad creative writing professor. The plot makes no sense and has huge holes, nearly all the characters are under-developed and flat, and consistently make decisions and say things that also make no sense. There were various points in the story where I was just baffled at what was happening and why- too many to list here frankly.
I loved LaRocca's short story "Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke" and was excited to read this after all the hype I'd been hearing about it, but it was really one of the most poorly written stories I've read in quite some time. I would strongly recommend horror fans to not read this- I nearly didn't finish, but it was so short so I opted to power through it, only to be rewarded with more senselessness, bad writing, and disappointment.
Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for providing me an ARC of this title. I hope there are some serious edits made to this before it actually hits the shelves anywhere.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Murder
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There was a lot of potential but it seemed the writing style fell flat towards the middle which made the graphic and intense scenes somewhat unbearable… I see where he was going and I think the story was there but it could have used some more time to be refined and have depth added. It seemed there was a big and deep story of which only the skimmed top was presented.
The brutally direct and crass writing style is also not something of my wheelhouse, personally. I like my dark writing to be whimsical and poetic, it makes the pain something with which I can emphasize more easily. But these characters seemed somewhat one-note and ill-defined when it came to trying to understand their decision making. There were also sensitive components that I felt deserved more tact with their delivery.
Potential was there but this one feel short for me.
The brutally direct and crass writing style is also not something of my wheelhouse, personally. I like my dark writing to be whimsical and poetic, it makes the pain something with which I can emphasize more easily. But these characters seemed somewhat one-note and ill-defined when it came to trying to understand their decision making. There were also sensitive components that I felt deserved more tact with their delivery.
Potential was there but this one feel short for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Rape
dark
tense
fast-paced
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
medium-paced